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060716 - Conquering Fear
CTG: Arty took refuge in a room at the end of a hall,legs crossed as he's surrounded by tools. His phone sits in his lap. This is a spare; his real phone remains in the love dungeon where Lilah was sleeping. He checks it occasionally, talking to someone as he puts parts together CCC: Kyle is sitting against a wall nearby. Next to him is a large book opened to a page near its center. He occasionally stops reading to watch Arty work or tap out messages on his phone. CTG: Arty has put together a small box, after a while. It's made of plastic, and full of little cogs and things. While trying to hold it steady to put in the screws, he suddenly crushed it in his hand with a frustrated, angry sigh. CTG: "Fiddlesticks..." CCC: Kyle looks up. "...You alright?" CTG: "Can't seem to...calm my nerves..." He picks up his phone now, furiously tapping away. He's got to be really careful now, to control his strength. "You okay?" CCC: "...I'm fine, yeah. You're the one who lost your, uh... What were you making, anyway?" He gets up and walks over, looking concerned. CTG: "It wasn't anything. Just some mini cuckoo clock..." He begins to pick it apart, straightening out some bent parts with his large, yet dexterous hands CCC: "...You, uh, say stuff like that a lot." He watches as Arty fixes the parts. "Like how, uh, it's not a big deal that you can just... make stuff, just like that." CTG: "It's nothing that someone else couldn't do...with a little practice..." With it mostly repaired, Arty starts to put the screws in slowly...before losing his patience and setting it aside with a shaking hand. CCC: "...Not so sure about that, I've never seen anything like that... But, uh, anyway, is there anything else that would help you calm down?" CTG: "I don't know, man. I don't know." His voice gets quieter as he draws into himself, phone in his hands as he curls up, the picture of hopelessness. With his stature and muscled from, it looks ridiculous. CCC: Kyle looks more than a little worried. He reaches up and gently puts his hand on Arty's shoulder. CTG: Arty flinches a little, but doesn't move away. He gives Kyle a searching look, and seemingly finding something, he lets out a sigh. "Sorry..." CCC: "N-no, sorry, I, uh..." He glances away as his voice trails off. CTG: "There I go again...burdening someone with my whiny bullshit..." Arty scoffs, taking another look at his phone. "I'm even doing it to Eribus, who's got bigger fish to fry than me..." CCC: "...You're not burdening me, honest. And I don't think Eribus minds listening to people's problems... He's listened to a lot of my crap, anyway." He blushes a little as he finishes talking. CTG: Arty smiles a little at him. "Heh, I guess he's really easy to talk to..." CCC: He smiles back. "See? So, uh, try not to worry about that so much." CTG: "...what do you think is going to happen to us?" CCC: "...I, uh, don't know... Everything keeps happening so fast... But we have to, uh, just try to be careful and try to, uh, think positive, I guess." CTG: "Heh...thinking positive..." His voice takes on a mocking tone that gets more vicious as he continues to type on his phone. "'At least we aren't all dead!' 'At least we don't have twinks after us right now!' 'At least we can try to fight a hopeless battle that will end in certain death, but there's pudding in the fucking fridge so everything is peachy fucking keen!'" CCC: "Look, I, just,-" He takes a few steps back and puts a hand to his forehead, covering his eyes. "I'm fucking terrified too, alright?! I've been literally, haha, HIDING from everything for the past... I don't even know how long. But, I, you can't obsess over every single thing that might happen, it'll break you. It, it broke me, a while back, and I'm still working on it, so just..." He takes a deep breath and lowers his hand. "It's not all okay, it's not. Most of it isn’t, at all. We just have to h-hang in there and do our best, b-because that’s all we can do anymore. A-alright?" He doesn’t seem angry; he looks more like he’s about to panic or burst into tears. CTG: Arty takes a long time to think, looking at Kyle and giving them both a chance to calm down. He then closes the distance between them, giving him an uncertain hug. There wasn't really anything else to be said. CCC: Kyle quickly tenses up and breathes in sharply. "I, guh, wh, but, uh, gah?" Eventually, he relaxes as his breathing slows. He timidly wraps his arms around Arty, hugging him back. CTG: "That's...er, all I have to say...I guess." He hasn't let go. It's easy to feel small in Arty's arms CCC: "Y-yeah, I, didn't have anything else to, to say either." He doesn't let go either. CTG: "Is...is this weird for you?" CCC: "N-not, uh, really, I'm not really, uh, used to people touching me, in general... I-it's fine, though." CTG: "...me too. I mean. Lilah's gotten me used to it, but...but this is still...different." CCC: "Y-yeah... Uh , speaking of that, how are those, uh, scratch marks doing?" CTG: Arty steps back, somewhat reluctantly and lifts his shirt. The boy is ripped to shreds in more ways than one CTG: "They sting..." CCC: Kyle winces. "...We can't just leave those. Eribus has to have bandages somewhere..." CTG: "They're...superficial. Doesn't hurt, really. " he puts his shirt on, and leans against the wall. "She really attacked my neck though...I didn't know I could bruise so bad there." He pulls down his collar, revealing many love marks left by his wife. CCC: "...You're, uh, sure?" He glances up at Arty's neck but quickly looks away. "...Christ." CTG: Arty smirks a little at him. "You seem like you know the feeling." CCC: Kyle turns bright red. "I, wh-? Uh. No, actually. I, I don't. I've never, uh, no." CTG: "Really?" CCC: "...Y-yeah, really." CTG: "...I didn't really think there were people like me that existed, eheh." CCC: "...Heh. I mean, uh, I'm not great around people, and I was never really interested in... I don't know." CTG: "Me, I was...scared shitless, as usual. I tried to...to rationalize it, saying that i had better things to do...." He gestures to the forgotten clock on the floor. "Like machines." CCC: "I, uh..." He looks to the side. "...I used to have all of these, uh, conspiracy theories, they kept me from really, uh, trusting anyone. At all. Th-they're still there, but... Not as bad, I think. For now." He says this with some difficulty. CTG: "...fear's... A powerful thing." CCC: "Yeah... It really is." CTG: Arty steps forward and extends a shaky hand, trying and failing to look resolute as he figures out something to say. "As...as two men who...for their whole lives made slaves to....to fear...let's ...break those chains. CCC: Kyle nods and shakes Arty's hand somewhat weakly. "...Fear's... All in our heads, right? We can... We can get past it." He nods slightly. CTG: Arty takes a deep breath and looks a little more confident. "Yeah. We can. And, er...we'll do it together." CCC: He smiles a little. "R-right." CTG: Arty dusts himself off, rights his shirt, generally tries to make himself look more presentable. After smoothing over his hair, he asks Kyle, "How do I look?" He puffs out his chest in an act of pseudo confidence. CCC: He smiles wider. "Heheh... Much better." CTG: Arty seems to nod to himself. "Good...now, as my first act against fear...I'm gonna go talk to Lorcan." CCC: "...Uh. That's, definitely a start. Good lu- I mean, uh, hope it works out well." CTG: Arty smiles a bit."gee, thanks. You take care." With that, he steps out the door." Category:Arty Category:Kyle